Quaking Aspen & the Giant Sequoias

Our family went on our first official camping trip as a foursome last month (over the fourth of July holiday), and it was a smashing success.  From start to finish, our 3-day, 2-night little trip went off without a hitch and left behind some amazing memories and lingering hopes to return again someday.

We packed up our Camry to the brim, and still had to leave a few things behind, but we were prepared nonetheless!  Seeing as California is in a drought, many campgrounds around the state have shut off all water supply, which meant we were required to pack in all of our water.  Thankfully, we returned home with a few extra gallons to spare, which was a relief.  We drove about 6 hours north (including several stops and lunch), to the Quaking Aspen Campground, which is nestled deep within the Sequoia National Forest.  We had to climb 7,000 feet, which included 24 miles of very windy turns.

Stopping along the route to get some fresh air and take a quick break from the windy road. 

Being up so high meant we were able to see vegetation we aren't used to in SoCal, and that we miss so much from the Pacific NW.

Look!  Green!!

Both kids were in heaven being able to spend so much quality time with Daddy -- they almost never let him out of their sight!

A successful fire before dinner - which, as a side note, we lucked out; the day we left camp, was the first day they were banning all campfires at any campground, due to the significant drought. 

Best site in the campground - #15.  Although the campground was full for the weekend, we had an unbelievably private site, nestled back in the corner, against the forest.  It was awesome!

Hooray!  First time the tent has been assembled...and it worked!

Happy family - camp is all set up, and now it's time to get dinner going.  The kids were fascinated at every single step we had to take in order to function --- such a wonderful experience for them!

Cooking dogs over the open fire!

Sunset from our site. 

We walked a little further into the woods just behind our site, and this was the view.  Just continual forest and peace.  It was amazing.

Another view of our "home." 

S'mores!!

Straight up from our campfire.  Still and peaceful.

Happy Fourth of July!  We started off our morning with breakfast burritos, a fire and a little game of catch, before exploring a bit more of the campground and heading out for our main destination.

I loved this scene so much.

And then there was that moment when they looked up and noticed this shape in the sky...I said, "That looks like a bear!"  To which the response was, "No, that's Mickey Mouse!"  Yes.  All things in our family tend to lead back to Disney in some form or another.  No shame in that!

Geoffrey was determined to do some bird watching with the binoculars, but he wasn't having much luck....until this very rare, and loud, bird appeared...

Flapping, bouncing, and tweeting -- may I present to you, "The Maddie-Bird."

:)  Still going.

That's when he took his binoculars and looked straight up into the sky to see what else he could find.

We made a short little venture towards a trailhead in the campground, but did not want to spend too much time exploring, as we had big plans for the rest of our day and we needed the kids to feel rested and ready to do quite a bit of walking/hiking around.  It leaves room for more adventures the next time we come, though!

Quaking Aspen Meadow 

Explorer Maddie, complete with walking stick. 

We found water!  Granted, you could dip your toes in this little hole and that's about all, but it was still great to see!

Down we go.

I can imagine what this must look like when we are not in a drought.  It was crystal clear and delightful!

Off on our next adventure!  Happy to be together as a family, making memories and experiencing lots of new firsts together! 

Inseparable. 

Even though the drought was obvious in more ways that one over the weekend, it was so refreshing to see so much green!

One reason we chose to camp where we did, was a) availability, and b) the proximity to this famous grove of Sequoias with an amazing, and simple, hike.  Prepare to see many pictures...I tried to only post the highlights -- but there are many!

We were all stunned.  And no matter how many trees we saw, we continued to be awestruck by the awesomeness of what was before us.  Our God sure knows how to create a masterpiece!!

Hide-and-go-seek!

It was so impressive to see how some of the trees actually grew into each other to form an even bigger version.  This one was appropriately titled, "The Three Sisters," because it actually had 3 trees growing together, although you can only see two of them from this angle.  

Intriguing and inviting -- I mean, who wouldn't want to climb inside a giant sequoia tree??  

These two loved it!

We made it in, too!

A view looking straight up from inside the tree.  Can you see all 3 trees?  So cool!

A little peek out a "window" from up high.

And now, more trees!...

That was the little "window" from where I held the camera up high to snap the picture seen up above. 

These giant trees just pop out among the regularly sized trees.

Sooo big!

Just a little rest.

She sort of blends in, but you can see Maddie at the base of the massive trunk.

This one was pretty cool - its a sequoia that is "growing over" a cedar tree.  

Can you see how it is enveloping around the base of the cedar tree?  I don't remember how many years it will take, but I don't believe it will be terribly long before it is all covered.

Taking it all in.  Honestly, my idea for this picture was SO much cooler in my head than how it turned out.  The tree in the background is quite enormous and I was trying to capture him gazing off at it, but you can't completely tell the size for it to stand out.  At least you know what I was going for! ;) 

People and giant trees.

A smaller person and giant trees.

We rounded the corner and saw this.

In 2011, this sequoia came crashing down.  It was about 1,500 years old, 17 feet in diameter and about 300 feet tall.  The result is now, not only can you walk among these giant trees, you can walk on them, too!  I stayed down below only for sake of snapping a few pictures.  The tree, which was actually two sequoias that had grown together, fell on top of the trail itself.  They allow guests to walk on top of it, as well as get a fascinating look at what the roots of the tree looked like.  It was not as deep of a hole as I would have expected.

Forging the fallen sequoia. 

Made it to the top! Er - I guess this is sort of the bottom!

There they are, at the top, center of this picture.  You can also make out the bases of both trees, and see how they melded into one.  Nature is incredible.

Peek-a-boo! 

Looking up from inside.

The bark on the sequoias felt soft and spongy - no joke, I could've rested my head and been quite comfy!

Our kids were troopers, excited to go from one tree to the next, and the next...

These are said to resemble "elephant's feet."

We sure had fun hanging out with the Giant Sequoias!

This was the point when both kids decided they were DONE and not thrilled about walking the short distance to our car.

And this was the point when mommy pulled out the gummy bears, to help their little feet move.  A little bit of bribery never hurt anyone. ;)

On our drive back towards our campground, we pulled off onto a forest service road, following a small sign to "Dome Rock."  Without much idea of what to expect, we gave it a shot, and it did not disappoint!  It turned out to be a giant face of a rock/cliff that overlooked a vast scene of the forest.  We all loved it, built rock towers, took pictures and watched a thunder storm forming out in the distance.

It was very windy up there!

I'm sure there was deep conversation happening in this moment.

I don't know the name of what I'm looking at, but it was gorgeous, and amazing to hear the thunderstorm rolling in from that direction.

Love our cute little family.  So many unique personality traits can be seen in this photo!

It all started because two people fell in love.

That moment when your 6-year-old complains about having to go to the bathroom (which we had done just before we drove up to this destination), and you're on the top of a giant, wide-open ROCK.  We found a lone tree bush and thought we were being discrete, but someone had to document the moment for us so we would not forget it.

My heart.

Leaving our mark.

Our final day was spent cleaning and packing up our campsite, and trekking back home.  We went a different route than the way we had come in, and stopped for a picnic lunch along the Kern River.  It was hovering just around 98 degrees, so we did not hesitate to put our dusty, dirty feet in the cool water, before hitting the road for our final leg of the journey.

Amazing how dropping in elevation changes the scenery so very much.

One final picture from our fantastic trip!!  We can't wait to explore the area again someday - we barely scratched the surface!  Until then, we have one more camping trip to go on this summer.  We did the mountains, and this time, we will be hitting the Central Coast.  Get excited for another Himes' family camping post in the near future!!